Chris Picardo
Chris Picardo is a Partner at Madrona Venture Group and serves as a board member or observer for several companies including Aizen Therapeutics, Archon Biosciences, Knock, and Ovation.io. He previously worked as an investor at Madrona Venture Group, a business analyst at McKinsey & Company, and held finance and analyst roles at Rockets of Awesome and MD Sass.
Insurtech Faye raises $50M led by Madrona, bringing total funding to $100M as it scales AI and international growth
Faye, a Richmond-based travel insurance app, raised $50 million led by Madrona, bringing its total funding to $100 million since 2022 to scale AI, expand internationally, and improve claims and UX; the company reported millions of customers and $100 million in annualized revenue last year. Co-founder and CEO Elad Schaffer called the raise a shift from startup to scale-up as Faye pursues growth toward a possible future IPO.
Faye Raises $50M Series C on Aug 5, 2026 to Build Autonomous AI Traveler Care Platform, Total Funding Reaches $100M
Faye announced a $50 million Series C on Aug 5, 2026 to build an autonomous AI platform for traveler care, bringing total funding to $100 million and funding AI investments, partnerships, and global expansion.
Curt Medeiros on Revolutionizing Precision Medicine and Scaling Ovation
Imagine a future where healthcare isn't just reactive but deeply personalized — where every patient gets the right treatment at the right time based on a precise understanding of their biology. This is the future Ovation is building, and on this week's Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Chris Picardo dives into it all with Ovation CEO Curt Medeiros. From transforming underutilized clinical data into rich multiomics datasets to forging industry-leading partnerships with companies like Illumina, Curt shares how Ovation is shaping the future of precision medicine. He also opens up about the challenges of building a scalable, privacy-first platform, the…
Archon Biosciences Raises $20M to Develop AI-Optimized Antibody Cages for Disease Treatment
Archon Biosciences has emerged from stealth with $20 million in seed funding led by Madrona Ventures to develop Antibody Cages, computationally designed protein structures optimized with AI for treating cancer and other diseases. The technology builds on protein design research linked to a recent Nobel Prize awarded to University of Washington biochemist David Baker.
Chris Picardo: Madrona Partner on Tech-Driven Life Science Innovation
Chris Picardo is a Partner at Madrona. Chris joined Madrona in 2017. As a partner on the investment team, Chris focuses on identifying, evaluating, and leading new investment opportunities and working closely with existing companies. Chris helps lead Madrona’s investments in companies innovating around the intersection of life and computer science through combining novel wet lab science with cutting-edge machine learning. He also helps lead investing activities in consumer technology and commerce, marketplaces, and Web3, focusing on how new technological innovations can create new consumer experiences and interactions with the digital world. Topics: - Evolution of the "Intersections of Innovation"…
Pioneer Square Labs' Greg Gottesman Forecasts Generative AI Will Transform Venture Capital Operations by 2033
Greg Gottesman of Pioneer Square Labs predicts venture capital will fundamentally change in the next 5-10 years, increasingly leveraging generative AI to provide startups with more than just funding, including operational and coding support. Sheila Gulati of Tola Capital adds that early-stage investing is becoming more democratized, with a broader investor pool amid the recent AI-driven revival in venture capital.
Investor Spotlight: Chris Picardo on Cross-Disciplinary Innovation and Finding Unique Founders
In this episode of Founded & Funded, host Coral Garnick Ducken interviews Madrona Partner Chris Picardo for the latest Investor Spotlight. With degrees in math and English, Chris shares his unique journey into venture capital. Chris highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary skills in understanding and communicating complex concepts and what he looks for in founders, emphasizing unique worldviews and innovative approaches, particularly in AI, biotech, and consumer verticals. This is a great episode for entrepreneurs interested in working with VCs. (00:00) Introduction to Madrona Partner Chris Picardo (00:46) Chris Picardo: From Math and English to Startups (01:26) Chris's Transition to…
Madrona, Point72 and Madrona Venture Labs make day-one investment in Tektonic to build GenAI agents for sales and revenue operations
Madrona announces a day-one investment in Tektonic alongside Point72 and Madrona Venture Labs; Tektonic builds GenAI agents to automate business operations, initially targeting sales and revenue tasks like quoting, renewals, services, and data quality.
Madrona investors say ETHDenver shows surging Web3 momentum, talent exodus from Web2, and new startup opportunities
Madrona Venture Group investors Maria Gilfoyle and Chris Picardo report strong momentum for Web3 after attending ETHDenver, noting growing consumer behavior shifts, new app categories, and a large talent migration from Web2 to Web3. They highlight the Pacific Northwest's relevance to Web3 and identify talent movement, future Ethereum work, and startup opportunities as key takeaways.
A-Alpha Bio raises $20M Series A led by Madrona to expand Seattle lab and scale protein-discovery platform
University of Washington spinout A-Alpha Bio raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Madrona Venture Group to expand downtown Seattle lab space and grow its machine-learning team for its protein-discovery platform. The company combines computational tools and yeast-based experiments to generate large protein-interaction datasets used to predict therapeutic protein candidates for diseases including COVID-19.
Aseem Datar leaves Microsoft to join Madrona Venture Group as partner; Madrona promotes Chris Picardo and hires Birkan Uzun; Jaime Teevan promoted to Microsoft CVP
Microsoft Azure GM and COO Aseem Datar is leaving Microsoft to join Madrona Venture Group as a partner later this month, while Madrona also promoted Chris Picardo to partner and hired Birkan Uzun as an investor; separately, Microsoft promoted Chief Scientist Jaime Teevan to corporate vice president. The article notes Datar’s 17+ years at Microsoft and prior roles, Picardo’s and Uzun’s backgrounds, and Teevan’s reaction to her promotion.
Madrona Ventures Announces Investment in Rec Room, Citing 10M Players and 1M Creators
Madrona announced its investment in Rec Room, an online social gaming universe with over 10 million players and 1 million creators that offers easy cross-platform play and low-code content creation tools. The firm praised Rec Room’s founders, community-first approach, and alignment with trends in online communities and maker-focused development.
Madrona leads $21.5M round for Ovation.io as Boston lab-software startup reports rapid revenue and patient growth
Boston startup Ovation.io, which builds cloud software for medical testing labs, raised $21.5 million in new funding led by Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group; the company says it more than doubled revenue and grew patient volume 75-fold in the past year.
Lexion Raises $4.2M Series Seed Led by Madrona to Apply AI/NLP for Contract Management
Lexion, an AI/NLP contract-management startup spun from AI2 technology, announced a $4.2 million Series Seed round led by Madrona to help mid-market businesses extract and track key details from complex documents.
Madrona Ventures Invests in Ovation.io to Build Cloud Clinical Informatics for Genomic and Molecular Testing
Madrona announced its investment in Ovation.io, a cloud-based clinical informatics company founded by Barry Wark and Winston Brasor that builds tools to automate molecular testing lab workflows and unlock genomic and clinical data value.
Organizations
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Aizen Therapeutics Board Member 2024–present · current
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Institute for Protein Design Board Observer 2024–present · current
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Stealth Biotech Board Member 2024–present · current
Education
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Williams College Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Mathematics and English · 2009–2013
